"The
film paints a
strange portrait
of a subculture that I found to be a drag."

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Seth Gordon directs, edits and photographs this
documentary
about
compulsive video gamers. The oddball curiosity film
about such an
unlikely
subject focuses on those with a loving devotion to the
retro arcade
game
Donkey Kong, which they consider to be the hardest of
all the video
games
to master. One must have perfect skills to work the
joystick to avoid
obstacles
flung at them by Kong, as they climb an elevator. Its
theme is framed
around
the opening quote by William S. Burroughs that
suggests that the
universe
is based on war and games.

The ego-maniacal and arrogant Billy Mitchell of
Hollywood,
Florida,
a hot sauce mogul and family man, has held the world
record since 1982
for the popular video game. That record score of
800,000 has lasted for
over twenty years. Steve Wiebe, a laid off worker from
Boeing, residing
in Redmond, Washington, took comfort during his
unemployed days in
playing
Donkey Kong online. The compulsive Steve, painted with
a saintly glow
as
compared to his not too likable rival, is now a
middle-school science
teacher
with a wife and children he dotes on. In 2005 Steve
broke Mitchell's
record
with a score of over a million. An outfit called Twin
Galaxies run by
the
Iowa-based Walter Day, who aspires to be a folk
singer, promotes the
tournaments,
is the keeper of such records and referees all score
claims. The winner
makes the Guinness Book of World Records

The film paints a strange portrait of a subculture
that I
found to
be a drag. The slight film is padded with pop tunes
that don't seem to
fit the action on the screen. It plays as predictable
as one of those
Rocky
underdog sports fiction films. The story has been sold
to Hollywood and
will return as a movie with actors playing these
real-life video gamers.